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Troubleshooting RetroPie and retrogame

This page documents the most common pitfalls encountered when making retro gaming projects, offering some

solutions and where to turn for further help.

There are some things we can fix and some we can’t…we’re not involved in RetroPie’s development, for example…but

we’ll try to point you in the right direction.

Most of the following troubleshooting steps will require a USB keyboard attached. Some require a network

connection.

retrogame

Related Troubleshooting

retrogame

is our software that converts GPIO button actions into keyboard events. These are the problems we’re best

equipped to fix.

Some common things to check for any

retrogame

installation:

Confirm button/joystick wires go to the correct pins and to ground. A multimeter with a continuity beep function is

helpful for testing.

The retrogame configuration file (/boot/retrogame.cfg) uses

Broadcom pin numbers

…these are

not

sequential

along the GPIO header pins. This site has a nice reference chart (https://adafru.it/uFH) (use the “BCM” numbers).

Earlier versions of

retrogame

didn’t use a configuration file…you had to edit and compile the source code. That’s

just horrible. If you’re running an early version like that, this would be a good time to upgrade. See the Installing

Retrogame (https://adafru.it/sct) page.

Some of my buttons/controls aren’t working!

Check connections and configuration file pin numbers as explained above. (If some controls are responding,

that’s an encouraging start…it at least means the code is running.)

The key codes generated by retrogame might not be assigned to EmulationStation’s keyboard inputs; one or

the other will need to be changed. Either edit /boot/retrogame.cfg, or, from the EmulationStation main screen,

press Start to access the main menu, then select “Configure Input” and proceed through each of the controls.

NONE of my buttons/controls are working!

Confirm that retrogame is actually running…either exit to the command line (F4) or log in using ssh, then use

“ps -ef | grep retrogame” to check. If you used our installer script or one of our ready-made SD card images, it

should be started automatically on boot (added to /etc/rc.local).

Confirm that the file “/etc/udev/rules.d/10-retrogame.rules” exists. Our installer script creates this file, but if you

installed retrogame manually or from source, it may have been overlooked.

My controls only work if there’s also a USB keyboard plugged in!

Confirm that the file “/etc/udev/rules.d/10-retrogame.rules” exists. Our installer script creates this file, but if you

installed retrogame manually or from source, it may have been overlooked.

Retrogame doesn’t work with my optical buttons!

Unfortunately, yes. retrogame only works with “passive” switches between a GPIO pin and ground (logic

low=pressed). It won’t work with switches that have the opposite logic level (high=pressed).

I ran Adafruit’s retrogame installer script and rebooted, and now the keyboard and network are unresponsive!

This can happen if you’re running an early Raspberry Pi (Model A or B) with the 26-pin GPIO header and select the